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Senate Summary: 3/20/17

The Constitution Task Force (CTF) hasn’t met recently, and its progress was again questioned.

Braniecki announced that the CTF was dividing up the remaining tasks associated with the rewrite amongst its members.

Junior Senator Joey Stephens asked when the final constitution rewrite would be on the Students’ Association (SA) Senate table. Elections and Rules Committee Chair and CTF Chair Jake Braniecki said there was no guarantee that it would be presented by elections.

Stephens said that he wouldn’t be comfortable if it were presented to Senate in one of the final meetings of the year.

Braniecki noted that he would not like to discard the work.

Junior senator Andria Rabenold asked how it is possible to publicize constitution if the elections dates are not set. Braniecki said that he does not think it looks like they will “pass anything this year.”

Stephens asked why not just put if off completely until next year. Braniecki explained that they want to preserve work done and bring everything to a standard wrap-up point.

Stephens said he felt like the rewrite was continuing needlessly.

Freshman senator Leif Johansen discussed talks with advisers. He noted that the SA advisers explained that, previously, initiatives were started in one year and were subsequently pushed off to the following year, but the cycle had a tendency to repeat itself every year.

Stephens responded that it would be better to make a decision, especially since everything is contingent on next year’s SA administration. He then asked Braniecki when the last CTF meeting was. Braniecki was vague, and had to be corrected by Stephens on naming a meeting cancelled due to lack of quorum before break. Stephens said that there did not seem to be a cohesive process, especially with the divide-and-conquer method. Johansen responded by saying that the situation is not falling apart, and urged that peers look into what was actually going on.

Other bits

SA derecognized UR AGE, due to lack of interest. The organization did community service with the elderly, and was comprised of all seniors.

The Button Walk will be on March 31. It is open to all students and aims to identify locations on campus that could be more accessible to students with disabilities.

The elections schedule is not set, due to difficulties over spring break. Braniecki promised that more information would be available later in the week.

$635 was released to Mini Baja for equipment.

$1,400 was released to Water Polo for equipment.

Tampons have arrived on campus. They will be distributed in bathrooms on campus as part of this year’s 5K Challenge winning proposal to provide free pads and tampons in bathrooms around campus. Speaker of the Senate Lindsay Wrobel suggested putting information on toxic shock syndrome in bathrooms as a PSA to students benefitting from the program.

The All-Campus Judicial Council (ACJC) had an information session on Monday for its selections. It held a second on Tuesday. ACJC is selecting 2-3 new justices, and will be making its decisions in the coming weeks.

Senator Stephens brought forward a resolution from Fossil Free UR in support of divestment from fossil fuels that will be presented to Student Life Committee on Wednesday. Students for a Democratic Society, Grassroots, and Greenspace are proponents of the resolution.

Senate tabled a resolution spearheaded by sophomore senator Nick Foti written over break to push for greater transparency on tuition increases. The resolution charges SA with coordinating a town hall with UR administration annually to discuss tuition increases. SA Vice President Lance Floto suggested publicizing a presentation to SA Senate, and SA President Vito Martino suggested having the meeting before increases, so students can voice their opinions on the increases. Senator Stephens noted that this is asking for suggestions, not transparency, and would serve a different purpose than that defined in the bill.

Martino vetoed a bill regarding transparency on tuition increases from the Board of Trustees. The bill would have asked the Board of Trustees to release an annual statement explaining the increases.